Voters queued on Tuesday, Feb 21, to cast ballots in a poll that brings an end to President Ali Abdullah Saleh's 33-year hardline rule in Yemen, the first Arab state where a revolt ended in a negotiated settlement, AFP reports.

Voting began at 8:00 am (0500 GMT) in the referendum-like poll, in which Saleh's deputy Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi is standing as the sole candidate.

Men and women formed separate queues outside polling stations in Sanaa's northern district near Change Square, epicentre of a year of anti-regime protests against Saleh's regime.

More than 12 million Yemenis are eligible to vote -- 10 million registered in the last elections in 2006 in addition to 2.2 million new voters.

The turnout in the single-candidate election will give some idea of the support 66-year-old Hadi has from his countrymen to lead the transitional period.

The poll is being boycotted by two major opposition groups; the separatist Southern Movement and the northern Shiite rebels.